textile design & innovations

The Oldest Known Carpet: The Pazyryk Carpet

The oldest known complete carpet is the Pazyryk Carpet from the 5th century.

Figure (1): The Pazyryk Carpet

Figure (2): A Pazyryk Carpet close up

The carpet was produced in the 5th century BC by the nomadic Scythians in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia near Pazryk, Russia. The carpet has 225 knots per square inches with beautiful and sophisticated geometry and pictorial designs.

Discovered by the Russian archaeologist Sergei Rudenko in the 1948 in a Scythian burial mound. The carpet is used for funereal ceremony and buried with a prince.

The Pazyryk Carpet is now at the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad, Russia.